


Falling Again (Down and Out)

by shimmeringswift



Series: The Things We Hide [10]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Detroit Evolution was released today, Fluff, Gavin is fucking smart, Hurt/Comfort, IQ Scores, Language, M/M, Panic Attacks, Parental Hank Anderson, Science, Sort of? - Freeform, Stuttering, Trust Issues, brainy boys, yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23439697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimmeringswift/pseuds/shimmeringswift
Summary: His hands were still trembling when he pulled out his phone. He speed dialed Tina.“Phck, Ti, I- I-”“Whoa, whoa, hang on. Gavin, what’s going on?”“I told- I told him- I told him about the- the-”
Relationships: Connor & Gavin Reed, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hank Anderson & Gavin Reed, Tina Chen & Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: The Things We Hide [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1218930
Comments: 45
Kudos: 222





	1. Didn't Feel It (When the Earthquake Happened)

**Author's Note:**

> GUYS I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG.
> 
> I had a not-so-fun NDE in December, like full-on visions of the after-life, and all that jazz. And then, my mom just had major surgery. So, after I recovered, I immediately began to play caretaker. But, now with this whole COVID-19 Quaratine (that rhymes!) I have more free-time to write.
> 
> Also! Don't forget about the new movie Octopunk Media is releasing on the 11th!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy, Gavcats!
> 
> Title of C.1 from "If the World Was Ending" -- I prefer the KHS version, and the title of this part is from "Falling" by Harry Styles.

Gavin wandered into the kitchen of Richard’s apartment, an empty mug in his hands. He walked over to the coffee pot, his socks sliding against the cool tile. As he poured himself another cup of coffee, his gaze caught on the window above the sink. Oh. It was snowing. He supposed it was already that time of year. Gavin set the mug down, tugging at the sleeves of his (Richard’s) sweater. The twins were over in the living room, talking about something work related. They’d been up significantly longer than he had, though he wasn’t sure what exactly it was they were doing.

After pushing up his glasses, Gavin picked back up his mug and walked toward the living room. Both Richard and Connor knelt by the coffee table. The couches had been pushed backward some and whiteboards filled with equations littered the room. On the table, there was a tablet with a holographic projection of an arm – presumably a prosthetic design. The projection was in blue, showing red running through fake veins in the arm, but within the arm, it kept misfiring and breaking down the interior of the arm.

“I simply just don’t understand what we’re missing. We’ve run these equations thousands of times, and the flow is wrong no matter how we change them.” Connor said, combing a hand through his hair. His tie had been thrown over the back of the couch and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone. It was unusual to see him looking so disheveled. It wasn’t as though Connor and Gavin had become friends, but they’d learned to tolerate each other. Well, at least a little bit. And, if there was one thing Gavin knew about Connor, it was that he didn’t _do_ disheveled.

So, this must be important.

Richard didn’t look much better, if he was honest. Although, Richard was in sweats, so he did appear somewhat calmer.

Gavin raked his gaze over the equations, trying to figure out what exactly it was they were trying to do.

Oh. This wasn’t that bad.

They were trying to replicate a blood substitute for prosthetics to allow it to work as a diluting agent with the nerve interaction. This was significantly different than Cyberlife’s product. Cyberlife had created the nerves to connect with the nerves in the human body, using the blood as a cooling agent because the nerves had a tendency to overheat from the stimulation. The thirium Cyberlife produced also worked with a conduit to create a stronger, more-human interaction with the human body. The thirium was harmless to the human body, but it couldn’t be allowed to flow into it. They weren’t sure of the effects it could have on the bloodstream, and they didn’t want to find out.

But, this… This was an interesting approach.

Gavin took a sip of his coffee. “You should divide by seven.”

The twins both turned to look at him with expressions of surprise. Connor looked mildly offended. “Excuse me?”

Gavin entered the living room to set the mug down on the coffee table. He picked up a blue expo marker and walked over to the equation in question. With a hum in thought, Gavin flipped the whiteboard. He began to write, his hands moving at a near rapid speed. “Look, see. If you divide by seven here, you can balance this equation with the one you’re using for the nerve endings. Then, the blood substitute and the nerves shouldn’t fire off of each other. This way, you can cut down the acidity of the substitute. And, then,”

He sped over to the coffee table and picked up the tablet. After a few minutes of fiddling with the tablet, the projection changed. The blood substitute changed to an orange liquid that raced through the fake veins without single misfire.

“There.”

He passed the tablet to Connor, whose mouth hung slightly open, and picked up his coffee. The twins looked at each other, gaping jaws and surprise written across their faces. When Richard turned to look at him, there was nothing but love in his expression.

Connor, however, was baffled. “How did you do that? We’ve been working on this project for- for months, almost a year, just on this single problem! And you just come in here and solve it less than five minutes?”

Gavin adjusted his glasses and rubbed the back of his neck, his face flushing. “I majored in this stuff in college.”

“So did I!” Connor huffed indignantly. “That doesn’t explain it.”

“Connor.” Richard warned.

“Look, I don’t like to talk about it, but I, well.” Gavin turned his head to look up at the ceiling. Oh, look. How pretty. White paint. Shuffling his feet, he mumbled, “I have an IQ of 317.”

“ ** _317!?_** ”

Scarlet. He was scarlet. When he lowered his gaze down from the ceiling, the twins were both on their feet and watching him, astonished.

Connor shook his head, “No, there’s no way. It would be all over the internet and news if you had the highest intellect score known to man.”

He winced. “Yeah, no. We nipped that in the bud when I was a child. It was pretty big for a while, but my father had deep pockets. Anything on me is gone now. I got a lot of death threats once people found out. I changed my name legally, too. My mom wanted me to grow up mostly normal. My older brother has a pretty high IQ as well.”

“Wow.” Richard breathed, reaching for Gavin. His fingers wrapped around Gavin’s wrist. Gavin melted into the touch. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

“Well, I don’t really talk about it. But… uh, well. Tina said I should’ve told you sooner, but it isn’t really something you just bring up, you know?” His hands were shaking. Someone needed to take this coffee mug from him before he dropped it. He couldn’t meet either of their gazes. “ ‘Oh, yeah, by the way, I’m literally the smartest man in the world.’ Yeah, that really- Yeah, that really goes over well.”

And the mug slipped from his hands.

It was going to get all over the project.

All he needed was half a second.

With barely a move of his hand, Gavin knocked the mug to change the trajectory. Instead of the mug shattering and spilled on everything, the mug shattered and the coffee spilled all over him. He jerked backwards, moving away from them both. “I’m gonna go- I’m gonna go change.”

Before either could say anything, Gavin darted out of the room and into Richard’s bedroom.

Vaguely, he could hear Richard getting onto Connor for not leaving Gavin alone, but he didn’t pay it much mind.

Jesus.

It’d been a long time since he’d talked about his intellect. It wasn’t something he liked to discuss, and the only reason Tina knew is because they went to college together. When he’d graduated college the first time, it had been at the same time as Elijah. He’d been fourteen and Eli had been sixteen. They’d both gone back several more times, and if Gavin recalled correctly, Elijah had nine different science degrees to Gavin’s sixteen – No, seventeen. He just finished another one online. But, where Elijah’s were all related and in close proximity of each other in nature, Gavin had a much broader spectrum for his degrees, ranging from BME to English.

But his intellect was often something that caused him harm.

Like the scar on his nose.

His hands were still trembling when he pulled out his phone. He speed dialed Tina.

“ _Phck,_ Ti, I- I-”

_“Whoa, whoa, hang on. Gavin, what’s going on?”_

“I told- I told him- I told him about the- the-”

_“Gavin, Gavin, slow down. You’re stuttering. Do I need to come get you? Or call Elijah? Or Hank?”_

“ _Yes._ ” Gavin managed out, his hands bracing itself on the dresser. His breaths came in quick pulses and he couldn’t slow them down. “Richard’s.”

_“You’re at Richard’s? Okay, give me just a second. I’m going to text him. Do you want me to take you to Elijah’s? Hank’s?”_

“H-Hank.”

All he could manage was one word responses, his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

_“Can you talk about it? Can you talk at all?”_

There was a beat of silence. Tina took that as her answer.

_“Okay, that’s okay. I’ll talk. Just breathe and listen. Okay? Nines sent me the address. I’m on my way over now. In the meantime, I don’t think I told you about what happened at the wedding. North and I totally hooked up and boy, is that woman fucking good in bed. Anyway, I’m trying to figure out if we’re just banging and fuck-buddies or if we’re actually dating. I kinda hope we’re dating because I kinda uh, accidentally dropped a major bomb on her and it was all pretty insane. We’ve been banging a lot lately. I mean, I know the wedding was over the summer and it’s October now, so we should know if we’re dating or not, but I don’t. I’m just so fucking confused. Hang on.”_

The line went dead.

He could hear Tina in the front of the apartment. “God damnit, fucking move! Where is he? Where is Gavin?”

There were quieter sounds and the door to the room he was in flung open. Gavin couldn’t even look up to see Tina, but he heard her breathe, “Fucking… Jesus.” Then, angrier, “What the _fuck_ did you do to him?”

She didn’t wait for it to be answered. She was by Gavin’s side in a heartbeat. “Can I touch you?”

His only reply was a shaky nod. He let her take him by the shoulders and slowly maneuver them both to kneel on the floor. Gavin buried his face in the crook of her neck and she shushed him, rocking them gently back and forth. “Tap me twice when you’re ready to stand back up, and then we’ll go see Hank.”

He tapped twice. He needed to be out. To get out of this apartment. To get away from Connor. To get away from Richard. To get away from the constant reminders of his difference. Of his intellect.

“Okay. Slowly, now.” Tina helped him to his feet. “Let me help you. You can keep your eyes closed, okay, Gavin?”

Her voice was scary when she directed it at the twins. “I will be back to murder you both. There’s a fucking reason he doesn’t talk about this shit.”

It took forever for Tina to maneuver him to the cab waiting outside. She slid in beside him and Gavin opened his eyes just to catch her flipping off the twins as she slammed the car door shut. She gave the driver directions to Hank’s house before pulling out her phone and calling. After another few minutes, she told the driver to head to the precinct instead.

Gavin doesn’t remember even entering the precinct. All he remembers is the alarmed faces of the officers and the moment when Hank spotted him.

From the entrance of the precinct, Tina called, “Hank!”

The second the lieutenant turned around, his expression shifted from fond happiness to concern. Gavin trembled as Tina guided him forward and into Hank’s arms. “Hey, it’s okay, kid. I gotcha. I gotcha.”

Hank’s brows knitted together as he watched Tina. “Christ, kid, what happened?”

“I solved- I solved a- I solved a problem-” He began, letting Hank lower him into the desk chair. Hank swept a hand across Gavin’s forehead, moving his hair from his face.

“Whoa, hey.” Hank knelt in front of Gavin. “Your stutter’s back. Slow down. Take it easy, okay? I gotcha, kiddo.”

“IQ.” He choked out.

Both Tina’s and Hank’s brows shot up. Tina inhaled sharply, asking, “You told him?”

“N-Not, not on purpose.”

“Well, shit.” Hank sighed. “That explains a lot.”

He glanced around, placing a hand on Gavin’s knee. “Look, it’s been a slow day. What do you say we go back to my place and watch a few movies, yeah?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Hank stood and yelled, “Fowler! Takin’ my kid home. Don’t call me unless someone’s dead.”


	2. Don't Wanna Go to Bed Like This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Gavin,” Richard began, “Sweet-”_
> 
> _“No.” The word was a whisper. Gavin took a step back, walking toward the kitchen. Richard followed him. He turned around to face his boyfriend. His voice wobbled as it got louder. “No, you don’t to come in here and call me sweetheart and pretend everything’s okay.”_
> 
> __

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Detroit Evolution release day! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apUn-YMMdZ8) In addition and celebration, have some angst! 
> 
> Title is from "Like to Be You" by Shawn Mendes and Julia Michaels! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX9bEYC69QQ)
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter, but I thought it was more fitting. I really didn't want to add too much.
> 
> Enjoy! Or... uh. Don't. It's pretty angsty. At least I think so.

Gavin didn’t remember getting to Hank’s, or really even what happened when they got there. It was probably better that he didn’t remember the extent of his meltdown. What he did remember was waking up on the couch in Hank’s living room with Sumo on the floor, his face pressed into Gavin’s hand. With a sleepy sound, he combed his hand through Sumo’s fur. The dog leapt to his feet and was on top of Gavin in seconds. Gavin groaned loudly.

“Dad. Come get Sumo off of me!” He called through the house, throwing an arm over his eyes. Sumo laid his head down on Gavin’s chest with a whine. “Damn it, he’s supposed to be _my_ dog, but he only fucking listens to you.”

Hank chuckled somewhere off to the side and then whistled. Sumo jumped off of Gavin. Gavin sat up with a yawn, rubbing his eyes. The blanket that had been draped across him fell to his lap and he rolled his shoulders. He scanned the room, his eyes landing on Hank, who was leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen. In his hand was a manila folder. Hank nodded toward the kitchen before disappearing into it.

“Y’know, kid, we never signed those papers.”

Gavin pushed himself up from the couch and meandered after Hank, humming in thought. He plopped down into a chair at the kitchen table. Hank dropped the folder on the table before grabbing a pen. Gavin opened the folder and smiled at the contents. He held out his hand for the pen. Hank passed it to him. It was quick work of filling out the forms. He spun the form around and offered Hank the pen.

He propped his chin up on his elbow, watching Hank sign them. Gavin took the folder when Hank was finished. “I’ll go to the courthouse and send them in later today.”

“Go tomorrow, kid. We’ve got the time.” Hank stood and ruffled Gavin’s hair as he walked towards the fridge. “You hungry? I’ve got leftover pizza.”

“I can eat it cold right?”

“God, kid,” Hank shook his head, pulling out the grease-stained pizza box. “no.”

“Cold pizza is the best pizza.”

Hank snorted and set the box on the table. “So long as you fuckin’ eat, fine.”

Gavin opened the pizza box and stared at its contents. He looked at the pizza, then at Hank. Then at the pizza again. Then at Hank again. Hank laughed, “Just eat the damn pizza.”

Using the pen to push away the pizza, Gavin shook his head. “I am not eating this. Jesus fucking Christ, what is wrong with you? Pineapples and anchovies? Even Sumo wouldn’t eat this shit.”

Hank threw back his head, cackling. “Couple of the rookies at work thought it’d be funny to order the precinct a shit ton of this crap.”

In disgust, Gavin pushed the box away. “And you brought it home?”

He patted around his pockets and looked up at Hank. “Hey, where’s my phone?”

“Dead. It’s on the charger.”

“Order some actual pizza?” Gavin raised a brow.

Hank scoffed. “Like we don’t have food in the house. But, fine.”

After ordering pizza, they retired to the living room to watch _Avengers_ while waiting for it to be delivered. Gavin rolled his shoulders, leaning back against the couch. Quietly, under the battle cries and gunfire of the movie, he asked, “What happened last night?”

The question went unanswered for so long, he wasn’t sure if Hank heard him. He was about to ask again, but, then, without looking at him, Hank replied in a soft voice.

“I’ve never seen you like that, kid. Really scared me.” A beat. “You couldn’t calm down. Tina was here too. I called North. She said you stashed some sedatives in my guest bathroom. So, I sedated you.”

“Hm.” was the only sound he made.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Gavin stood and went to answer the door.

It wasn’t the pizza.

“Sweetheart, can we talk?”

Gavin took a step back and made to shut the door, but Richard caught it.

The expression Richard gave him was one he hadn’t seen before. “Please.”

Hank paused the movie, looking over at them. He stood.

“Let’s go outside.” Gavin broke Richard’s gaze, wrapping his arms around himself. It was as though he was six inches tall. His mind just seemed to freeze.

“Ha, that’s funny, kiddo. You don’t need to be outside right now.” Hank interrupted. “Talk in here. I wanna go smoke anyway.”

Gavin grabbed a balled up pair of gloves on the table next to the door. He threw them at Hank. “Damn it, we talked about this! You said you weren’t gonna smoke anymore.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hank waved him off. He pushed passed them, snagging the leash off its hook and walked outside, whistling for Sumo to follow him. 

The door clicked shut behind him. Gavin didn’t say anything. The two stood there for a long moment. Gavin crossed his arms over his chest, tight around himself. He couldn’t meet Richard’s gaze.

“Gavin,” Richard began, “Sweet-”

“No.” The word was a whisper. Gavin took a step back, walking toward the kitchen. Richard followed him. He turned around to face his boyfriend. His voice wobbled as it got louder. “No, you don’t to come in here and call me sweetheart and pretend everything’s okay.”

His voice split.

“Gavin,” Richard started again.

Gavin jerked his head up to meet Richard’s gaze. “ _What?_ I’m not wrong to be upset, in fact I have every right to be. The information I keep private is something I get to choose to disclose, but your _brother_ forced it out of me. So, _yes, I am upset._ And I get to be! I get to be upset.” He jabbed a finger toward Richard. “You don’t know what it’s been like. Four people on the planet know. _Four._ But now that number has gone up to six, and not because I wanted it to. I was going to tell you.”

With a sigh, Gavin let his hands fall to his sides. “I was going to tell you, but I wanted it to be on my terms.”

“Gavin, I’m sorry.”

Shaking his head, Gavin lifted a hand. “Richard, I really don’t want to hear it right now. This is the biggest thing in my life. You should have- You should have-” Gavin pursed his lips, letting out a long breath. _Visualize the words._ “You should have stopped Connor. But you didn’t. You didn’t because you wanted to know too. You didn’t respect my privacy, you didn’t trust me. You didn’t trust me yesterday just like you didn’t trust me when I went out with Tina. That night that whole thing with David happened.”

Richard angled his head, “What are you saying?”

“I don’t know!” Gavin snapped. “I don’t know what I’m saying because I love you so much it hurts, but this isn’t going to work if you aren’t going to trust me. We’ve been together for like eight months now. If you aren’t going to trust me, how could we ever have a future? How could we ever get married? Buy house? Have kids? If you can’t trust me with my own private business, then how can you trust me with the finances to live together? Or with a baby? Or to not have an affair?”

There was a long, drawn out silence. Shock was the only the thing on Richard’s face as his boyfriend processed the information.

Gavin sighed, letting all of his anger out in the one breath. “Look, like we’ve talked about, I’m going to Italy with my brother next week. Let’s take some space, and talk when I get back, okay?”

Richard nodded slowly, taking a step towards the door, but paused as his hand slipped into his pocket. “Before I go…”

Richard walked to Gavin, drawing a white square box from his jacket pocket. He cradled Gavin’s hand in his own, placing the box on top of it. He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the corner of Gavin’s mouth. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

Gavin watched him leave. The door clicked shut behind Richard.

Slowly, Gavin opened the box. Inside was a dog tag necklace. His brows drew together. He looked at the engravings on the silver. On one dog tag, it said, _Sweetheart_ in what looked like Richard’s handwriting with a date beneath it _04/07/2037_. On the back, it said, _The day I realized I love you._

He froze. That was the weekend of the convention they met at, wasn’t it?

On the front of the second dog tag, there was a beautiful _9_ engraved in blue. Gavin let out a long shuddering breath and flipped over the dog tag. On the back, _From the moment we met, it was you._

When he went to lift the necklace out, a note fell from the top of the box.

_Not a collar, not yet a ring. Something perfect, something in-between._

Signed at the bottom with a number.

Gavin pushed the note back in, slammed the box shut and ran out the front door.

When he got outside, Richard was already gone.

His shoulders slumped and he thumbed the box.

Hank leaned against the doorway, a cigarette pressed to his lips. Sumo charged Gavin when he spotted him. “Whatcha got there, kid?”

“Birthday present.” The words were spacey. Gavin turned around and walked back into the house. Hank and Sumo followed. Hank put the cigarette out on the doorframe. Slowly, Gavin gathered his belongings. “I’m going home.”

“You sure that’s a good idea, kiddo? Tina has Trashcan, so you’re fine here for a few more days.”

“I’m sure.” Gavin put on his shoes and grabbed the folder off the kitchen table. “Would you call me a cab? It’s cold.”

“Yeah, sure thing.”

And, that night, if Gavin slept in only Richard’s shirt, clutching the box to his chest, well, no one had to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Gavcats! Thanks for reading, as usual hit me up on Tumblr if you have any questions or want to chat! (shimmeringswift.tumblr.com) 
> 
> If you have suggestions for things you want to see in The Things We Hide, suggest them now! I only have two or three parts of the story left. 
> 
> I'm also taking requests in general! My area is quarantined for another six weeks and I'm practicing unhealthy psychological habits by ignoring my problems, SO I'm pretty bored. I'd love if you guys would hit me up on tumblr with requests! I'm pretty flexible with them. There isn't much I don't write.
> 
> Also! I talked a bit with DeviantAlicee about this, but how'd you guys feel about a Reed900 Sentinel/Guide AU?
> 
> And I know I mentioned it before, but how would you guys feel about a discord server? Things got a little crazy and I never made one, but I'd love to get to know you guys some more.
> 
> Anyyways, go watch Detroit Evolution!!!!!!!


	3. Where Are You Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I have a right to be angry, Connor.” His steely grey gaze hardened on Connor. “Now, tell me what you found.”
> 
> “Jason Conway and Peter Clarke were working for Amanda at the time. But, it’s come to light that they were part of their own small sector not working with any of the factions.”
> 
> “Get. To. The. Point.”
> 
> “They stole the information from Jericho.”
> 
> Richard crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against the table. “You’re telling me, two amateur traitorous buffoons not only stole the information we’ve been looking months for, but they also targeted my lover and tried to kill him because of it?”
> 
> “Richard, you knew something like this could happen. That’s the dangers of getting involved with a civilian.”
> 
> “I need a drink.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the major delay, but I've finally uploaded! I've had this for SOOOO long and just haven't uploaded it yet. But, here you go, guys!
> 
> Y'all thought shit was bad before? It's about to get real, Gavcats. This is just the beginning.

The phone wouldn’t stop ringing.

Kamski massaged his temples. He blew up the hologram, stretching the imagery to get a closer view of the security footage. He’d had every member of his team look over the footage, and yet, nothing. Not even a sign of the flash drive or the supposed agent who was supposed to have taken it.

_Ring. Ring._

With a snarl, he answered, “ _What?_ ”

_“Uh, boss, sir. We have a bit of a problem.”_

“Stop wasting my time and tell me what it is.”

_“It’s the Wolf, sir. He’s, well, he’s here. He came into train, which he never does, and- And uh, well, sir, he’s incapacitated half of our elite team.”_

Fucking hell. Could he not get a break for once? Jesus _Christ,_ this was _not_ something he needed to be dealing with right now.

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll be there shortly.”

As stated, he was in the training room within minutes. His Wolf stood in the center of the room, trapped in hand-to-hand with one of his best special ops men. He was wearing the full face mask. In seconds, the White Wolf had him face-first pressed into with a foot on the base of his spine. The men on the sidelines looked worse for wear. Bruises formed on their faces, one man was cradling an arm that was clearly dislocated with one of the medical staff standing on the side, and many of the other didn’t look much better. It was over half of the special ops team.

Kamski sighed again, rubbing his temples. “Enough!”

The Wolf stepped back immediately, but to anyone who could see him, it was clear he was still seething with anger. Kamski made a quick motion with his fingers and turned around to walk away. He went back up to his office, the Wolf following closely behind him.

The door closed and locked behind them Kamski leaned back against it, arms crossed over his chest. “Want to tell me what all of that was about?”

Sighing, the Wolf sat on the edge of the desk. He checked to be sure the windows were closed before taking off his mask. “I found it.”

“The flash drive?”

“No, the queen of England. God damn it, _yes,_ I found the flash drive.”

“And?”

“ _And_ the new faction, Jericho, has it.”

“So what’s the problem?”

The Wolf glowered at him. “There’s nothing on them. Literally nothing. I’ve searched all of the usual channels and back channels. Stern is pissed off, and AI is playing neutral. For now. Bets are they want us to take on the new faction so they can take us down.”

Kamski nodded, humming in thought. “Okay. Why are you so angry?”

The Wolf stood and walked over to the activated hologram projector. He moved the plans Kamski had left up and pulled up a blank design program. Kamski moved away from the door and tossed him the stylus. He caught it without turning around.

On the design platform, he drew several different plans for prosthetic limbs. Then, he drew a third plan, but it was all molecules and chemical reactions.

Combing a hand through his hair, the Wolf walked him through each one. “This first one is-”

“The rough plan for Cyberlife’s prosthetic tech.”

“Right.” He motioned for the second one. “This one is the AI blueprint for prosth tech, and this third one is for Stern’s prosth tech.”

“What’s that, then?” Kamski nodded to the chemical reaction.

“Red Ice.”

“Red Ice? As in the street drug?”

The Wolf nodded, blowing up the equation. “If you look at this equation and the one for the Stern’s prosth tech, they look similar.”

“Right.”

“ _But,_ if you look at the Red Ice equation, it’s not balanced and highly unstable. Yet… It looks like it’s incomplete. Intentionally.” He motioned to a specific part of the equation. “See, here?”

“So, you’re saying that Red Ice is just a base drug?”

“Stern is going to build on it, make it something worse than it already is. And I think that’s what was on the flash drive.” The Wolf combed a hand through his hair again. “It’s going to be bad, Elijah. Whatever she’s up to, it’s going to end very, very badly.”

Before Gavin went to the airport, he dropped by his lawyer’s office. Kara greeted him with a smile, motioning for him to sit.

He did with a small smile. “I can’t stay long, but I wanted to drop these off.”

She took the folder from his hand when offered with a nod. “Finally filled them out, huh? Did you decide to get the name change as well?”

He nodded.

“Okay, good.” She bit her lip, scanning them. “I’ll look over them again to be sure everything is in order and then we’ll be good to submit them. By the end of next week, you be Gavin Reed Anderson.”

The name brought a smile to Gavin’s lips. “And I can’t wait.”

“Just be sure to go change your license, and update your social security card, and-”

He laughed, standing. “My credit cards, my lease, and all the other good stuff. I know. Just email me a list and I’ll get to it when I get back from out of town.”

Kara stood, coming around her desk. She hugged him tightly. “Congratulations, Gavin.”

The nice thing about having a billionaire brother was the eco-friendly private jets. Okay, so Gavin had designed this one, but that didn’t really matter. The point was: private jet.

Elijah was already on the jet when he got there.

“No Chloe and Nettie this time?” He asked, taking a seat in one of the recliners across from his brother.

“Not this time. Daniel and Simon came to visit, so they’re spending time with their niece. And Chloe’s too far along to fly right now.” Elijah looked him over. “You’ve got some serious bags under your eyes, are you alright?”

Gavin stood from the recliner and walked over to the couch by the pilot’s cabin. Elijah followed him, sitting down first. “Uh-oh. Couch conversation. Not a good sign.”

Rubbing his thigh, Gavin laid down on the couch with his head on Elijah’s stomach. Gavin stuck his hand in his pocket. His fingers brushed the small bag he’d placed the dog tags in. He took a deep breath. “Richard and I got into it. It’s a long story, but he doesn’t trust me, and his brother is an asshole.”

“All brothers are assholes. It’s what we do.”

“He tops even your level of douchery, Eli.”

“Oh, so he’s a _real_ ass.”

Gavin let out a short laugh. “Yeah, something like that. Anyway, the truth came out about the IQ thing and now things are kind of sticky. Not because he’s like a jerk about it, but because I’m mad he didn’t defend me to his brother, y’know? So, we aren’t talking until I get back. Which would be fine, normally.”

“Okay. So, why isn’t it fine?”

“Well, he gave me a birthday present.”

“The fake one in October?”

“Yeah. So, he gave me this amazing gift and I’m upset and now I really want to talk to him. It means a lot to me. But, I want him to take some space and consider just how messy our relationship is so it isn’t just me cleaning it up. Like, I want to marry this guy someday, y’know? I don’t know. All this is kind of new for me.”

“Do you want advice? Or did you just want me to listen?”

“I mean, advice is fine.”

“Talk to him.” Gavin glared up at his brother. Elijah flicked him. “Seriously, talk to him. Use this week to get some work done, but call and thank him for the present, at least.”

Gavin hesitated. “I mean, yeah, okay.”

Then, after a beat, Gavin changed the topic. “So, did you and Chlo find out the gender yet? I know she’s hoping it’s a boy. Wants to name him after her dad, I think.”

His brother let out a short laugh. “It would only be fair. We named Nettie after Mom. And no, we didn’t. I think we’re going to wait until the birth. I mean, she’s due early November, so it isn’t much longer. We all have our fingers crossed that the baby doesn’t get here early.”

“I think she deserves a boy.”

Elijah poked the bridge of Gavin’s glasses, his expression endlessly soft. “I do too.”

“Richard, are you ready? We’re about to land down in Zürich.” Connor asked, loading the pistol in his hand.

“Just about.” Richard rolled his shoulders. “Is the helicopter ready?”

“Yes, it’s there. It won’t take long to get to Blevio from Zürich. You should be home by tomorrow morning.”

Richard nodded curtly. “Good.”

“But there’s something I need to tell you.”

He motioned for Connor to continue.

“There’s been some… issues with some of our men in the storage facilities.” There was a lingering pause in Connor’s words.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“I was reviewing the surveillance of the incident that got your boyfriend shot.” With a sigh, Connor shook his head as Richard set about readying his gear. “Knowing what we know now about his intelligent score, I felt it couldn’t possibly hurt to double-check. I wanted to wait to tell you until I was certain. I don’t believe Gavin getting shot was an accident anymore.”

Richard set his gun down on the ammo table, turning around to face his twin. “I’m sorry, what? I do believe I misheard you. It sounded like you went behind my back to investigate something that you had assured me wasn’t a problem, Connor.”

“Richard.”

With a tight jaw, Richard motioned for him to continue. “Please, don’t lie to me any longer.”

Connor groaned. “I should have known this would happen.”

“I have a right to be angry, Connor.” His steely grey gaze hardened on Connor. “Now, tell me what you found.”

“Jason Conway and Peter Clarke were working for Amanda at the time. But, it’s come to light that they were part of their own small sector not working with any of the factions.”

“Get. To. The. Point.”

“They stole the information from Jericho.”

Richard crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against the table. “You’re telling me, two amateur traitorous _buffoons_ not only _stole_ the information we’ve been looking _months for,_ but they also _targeted my lover and tried to kill him because of it?_ ”

“Richard, you knew something like this could happen. That’s the dangers of getting involved with a civilian.”

“I need a drink.”

“We’re about to go out on an op, I wouldn’t.” Connor chastised.

“That’s _enough_ , Connor!” Richard snapped. “I’ve had _enough_ of you interfering with my relationship with Gavin and correcting me for every little thing I do. I’ve sat back and taken it long enough, but I love Gavin, and _by God,_ if I didn’t totally fuck things up between us because of the way _you treated him,_ I’m going to marry that man. So, shut up, Connor. As soon as this plane touches down, I’m going straight back to Detroit and I’m going to start looking for an apartment, that hopefully, I can convince Gavin to move into.”

Richard took a deep breath, turning his back to Connor. “You can handle this op on your own.”

“Richard, are you serious right now? We’ve been waiting months for an opportunity like this and you’re going to simply throw it away for the first person who dared to be as fucked up as you are? Are you truly that desperate?”

He spun around to face Connor. “That’s _enough._ I don’t speak with Amanda for a reason, Connor, but the more time I spend with you, the more I realize you are just like her. You prioritize work to the point you isolate yourself and care for nothing but work and the _instant_ someone does something that you don’t want, you rid yourself of them. The only reason you haven’t done that to me is because half of A.I. is _mine._ You will be just like her if you can’t get your head out of your ass. You will be _alone._ ”

Without waiting for Connor’s response, Richard walked away.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Give a kudos, like, and subscribe for more! If you have prompts, questions, ideas, thoughts, you know where to find me! (shimmeringswift.tumblr.com)
> 
> Here are the songs I mentioned earlier!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olGSAVOkkTI
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIBMfL66Gnc


End file.
